Syracuse man sentenced to extra prison time in fatal shooting case

Ellen M. Blalock / The Post-Standard, file photoRayshaun Days appeared in court on Aug. 19. He stood next to his defense lawyer is Paul Carey.

Syracuse, NY - A Syracuse man who shot and killed another man last year was not allowed to withdraw his guilty plea today, and then he received more prison time for the crime.

Rayshaun Days, 19, of Ellis Street, was to have been sentenced last week by County Judge Joseph Fahey to 20 years in state prison for first-degree manslaughter.

But the case was transferred to County Judge William Walsh after Days asked to withdraw his guilty plea because the case prosecutor now was working as a confidential law clerk for Fahey.

When Days was unable to articulate any reason for withdrawing his plea today beyond claiming he was "tricked" into pleading guilty by Fahey and Senior Assistant District Attorney Robert Duncanson, Walsh rejected the request and went ahead and imposed the agreed-upon 20-year sentence.

When Days then refused to sign a waiver of appeal as agreed to in the plea deal, the judge said he wasn't bound by Fahey's promised sentence deal. Walsh then sentenced Days to the maximum penalty of 25 years in state prison.

Days pleaded guilty July 28 to the lesser charge of first-degree manslaughter, admitting he was only trying to seriously injure - not kill - Allen Ross when he shot Ross three times - in the buttocks, ankle and foot - April 25, 2010, outside the Parkside Commons apartment complex in the 1800 block of East Fayette Street.

Ross, 27, bled to death as the bullet that struck him in the buttocks passed through his abdomen and severed his iliac artery.

Ross' mother, Florence Ross, tearfully confronted Days in court today, calling him a "coward" for killing her son. She also questioned why, over the past 16 months of court appearances, Days had shown no sign of remorse or looked her in the face.

"This is my face. Look at it," she challenged the defendant from across the courtroom. "This is the face of a mother whose son's life you took. I hope your mother's face never has this look."

Days then told her he had wanted to apologize but she never visited him in jail for him to do that. He said he didn't want to offer his explanation in court, inviting her to come visit him in prison for a discussion.

Outside court, Ross said she didn't consider that a valid apology as it came with the defendant's conditions. She also indicated she did not intend to visit the defendant for any conversation.

Days originally was charged with second-degree murder in Allen Ross' death. But the prosecution agreed to the lesser manslaughter plea deal given evidence the location of the victim's bullet wounds might not have supported an intentional murder theory before a jury at trial.

The defense also was contending Ross was beating up one of Days' friends at the time and that Days shot Ross to stop the assault and to prevent Ross from following up on a threat to go get a gun himself.

Authorities said Days' friends and Ross' friends had been fighting and arguing that entire weekend before the fatal shooting.